


Season’s Feelings

by sugarroseparfait



Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Secret Santa, mayu and yoshiki are good friends lol, seiko is iconic, yoshiki hates christmas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27241750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarroseparfait/pseuds/sugarroseparfait
Summary: The gang is tasked with decorating Classroom 2-9 with Christmas Decorations just in time for the holidays. Yoshiki’s late, Ayumi’s annoyed, and Mayu’s still adorable.When Ayumi sets up a Secret Santa, it’s up to Yoshiki to decide what to get her, as well choosing how to tell her about his feelings for her without jeopardising their friendship.2 parts maximum.
Relationships: Kishinuma Yoshiki/Shinozaki Ayumi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Season’s Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> helloooo  
> I only just got back into Corpse Party quite recently, so sorry if the characters are a little OOC  
> the first chapter is a little Mayu/Yoshiki heavy, but this is primarily a Yoshiki/Ayumi fic  
> hope you enjoy chapter 1!

“Merry Crisis, suckers.” Yoshiki was unsurprisingly the last to enter the classroom. Everyone except Ayumi looked excited to see their blonde classmate enter the room, his bag swinging around wildly with every step he took closer to his chair. He set the possible weapon down next to his table and looked around at his friends.

Morishige was staring at his phone, Mayu and Seiko were rifling through a large cardboard box full of Christmas decorations, Satoshi and Naomi were setting up the large green Christmas tree, whilst Ayumi was sitting patiently at her desk, almost as if she had been waiting for him to stroll in. 

“Don’t you mean Christmas?” Mayu queried, glancing at her friend.

“Nope,” he responded cheerfully. “Christmas sucks. Did you start without me?”

“We should have done,” an unimpressed Ayumi commented. “You’re almost 20 minutes late! What were you doing?” In the background, Seiko was slowly approaching Naomi, a strip of tinsel in her hands.

“Believe it or not, Shinozaki, I have other commitments in my life that don’t involve this friendship group- as much as I love you guys.”

The class representative folded her arms and said nothing. 

“I’m glad you could make it, Kishinuma,” Naomi said with a smile. “You do have an eye for this sort of thing.” She hadn’t noticed Seiko sneakily wrapping glinting red tinsel around her torso. It was only when she suddenly yanked on the end of it that Naomi noticed. “Shinohara!” She shrieked.

“Ha! I’ve got you now!”

“Let go!” Naomi squealed with laughter. “You’re gonna kill me!”

“As if.” She said, letting go of the tinsel to grope her boobs instead. Naomi giggled. “You're my prisoner now, Nakashima!” Seiko insisted.

Yoshiki looked over at Ayumi. “Wouldn’t be a proper hangout session without Seiko groping poor old Naomi.”

Ayumi giggled, then clamped a hand over her mouth. She scowled, crossing her arms and legs. “I’m still angry with you, you know.”

“Um. Good for you?” He said, slumping in the chair next to her. “Why did you guys offer to give up your free time on the weekend? You must be crazy.”

“Mm, well, if we’re so crazy, why have you come to help us?” Ayumi asked, grinning.

His face went red. “Just because. I'm a nice person. And it’s Christmas, you're meant to be nice to people.”

“Thought you hated Christmas? And if you are going to be of any use, come help me put up decorations.”

“I do hate it. It’s a stupid holiday. It’s just an excuse for people to get drunk and do nothing.”

“You're completely missing the religious value of the holiday.”

“I don’t think it’s even seen as a religious time anymore. Same goes for Easter. Now, what about Shrovetide? Or Michaelmas?”

Ayumi blinked. “What’s that?”

“Exactly. It’s a con, all of it.”

“Stop being so cynical and give me a hand.” She handed him some banners that simply read ‘Merry Christmas’. “We have to put these around the school. Let’s go.”

***

Ayumi watched as her friend stood on a stepladder, using blu tack to hang up a banner outside the bathrooms. “I've never felt more short in my entire life,” he grumbled.

“Cut the crap, Yoshiki.”

Kishinuma turned to look at her, visibly confused. “I’m sorry?”

“Why were you late today? I thought something had happened to you…”

“Oh.” He looked relieved that this was the question she had asked. “Family stuff.” He looked down at the floor. “It’s not as if you’d care if something happened to me anyway. You’d care if something happened to Satoshi, but not me.” He murmured under his breath. Fortunately, she didn’t hear this.

She cocked her head, folding her arms. “I thought your parents disowned you?...oh my goodness, that sounds terrible, I’m sorry.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, they did disown me. It’s true. Bad phrasing, though, Shinozaki. But I have a little sister, Miki. She’s just going through some stuff at the moment. Nothing to worry about, promise.”

Ayumi bit her lip. “Oh. Sorry I got mad at you. You should have texted me or something.”

“It’s alright. And I’ll keep that in mind.” He steps off the stepladder. “I thought I was tall enough, but this stepladder has proved otherwise. Frankly, I’m heartbroken.”

“You're only 5’7.” She giggled, folding up the stepladder. 

“Yeah, and still the tallest in my family.”

“I dread to think what your dad’s height must be.” Ayumi paused, wondering if she had made a mistake by bringing up his father. But Yoshiki simply smiled and played along with it. “I’ll give you a hint; he’s short.”

“I’d never have guessed.”

They stepped along the corridor of the third floor, bantering the whole way.

“How old exactly is Miki?”

“She just turned 12.”

“Really?”

He nodded, running a hand through his incredibly light hair. “She’s super sweet. I have no idea how we’re related.” He paused, staring at the creaky floorboards. “Sometimes I wonder if I swapped at birth or something.” He sighed.

Shinozaki spluttered, but quickly realised he wasn’t joking. “Really?”

“Well, it has crossed my mind a few times, admittedly.”

“I bet your parents knew it was you when they saw that bleached hair.”

“I wasn’t born bleach-blonde, you know.” He chuckled.

“I know that.” She giggled. “Only teasing. I remember the days of your black hair, anyway. Come on, we still have loads to do.”

They continued walking. “Apparently I cried a lot as a baby.” He informed her. “I bet you never even made a noise. Probably the perfect baby, since you're such a goody two shoes.”

“I am not! Being the class rep doesn’t mean that I’m automatically a goody two shoes.”

“It basically does. You're in love with being class rep anyway. You might as well have ‘I am the class representative’ written on your forehead in permanent marker.”

“Yeah, and you might as well have ‘I am a moron, please kick me’ written on your forehead. Besides, is there such a thing as a perfect baby?”

“Yeah, probably baby Ayumi Shinozaki.”

She laughed. “Oh, I wish. I was probably a really ugly baby.”

“Still are.”

Ayumi stuck her tongue out at him. “Whatever.” They came to the gym. “Your turn,” he insisted. She set up the stepladder and began to hang up one of the banners.

“You didn’t tell me why you dislike Christmas.” Ayumi said after a short while. “I mean, there has to be some definitive reason. You don’t just dislike something or someone for no reason.”

He said nothing.

“Kishinuma, c’mon…please tell me? I won’t tell anyone else, I promise.”

He glanced at her. “Not even the others?”

“Not even the others. Promise.”

“Not even Mochida?”

Her face clouded. “Why would I tell Satoshi?”

“...no reason. Just because. Anyway, you promise you won’t say anything to any of them?”

“No. I really do promise. Now tell me.”

He leaned against the wall. “Well, the thing is...I don’t hate Christmas as a holiday. Or as a concept. In fact, I used to really like it. It’s just that...my parents disowned me at Christmas, a couple of years ago. I don’t know why they thought that it was a good time to kick me out of the house, but...yeah. My sister cried when they told us. I would have cried too, but I was too shocked, really. So...yeah. Since then, I’ve just associated Christmas with getting kicked out of my own home. And for that, I hate the idea of it all.”

“Oh...I’m sorry...I...had no idea…” she mumbled, bowing her head. “You should have said something instead of making up excuses.”

“Yes, because it’s always my fault, isn’t it?! Huh, Shinozaki? It never seems to be your fault.”

Her head whipped up immensely quickly. “I never-”

“Aww, just forget it.” He clearly wanted to avoid an argument. “Come on. We have a lot to do.” He quickly scuttled off. She sighed. “Wait for me, dummy!” Ayumi hurriedly folded up the stepladder and ran after him.

‘Poor Kishinuma.’

“Why wouldn’t you want me to tell Satoshi?” She asked, though she was still quite far behind him. “Also, slow down! Even though you always skip gym class to smoke cigarettes by yourself, you're such a fast runner.”

“I’m not even running. You're just slow.”

“You might as well be! You're a human daddy long legs.”

He came to a halt, swivelling to look at her. “Are we still talking about the Christmas thing?”

“Yes we are, I’m afraid. Why wouldn’t you want me to tell Satoshi? I thought he was your best friend.”

“He is.”

“So why have you told me and not him?”

‘Shit.’

Yoshiki swallowed. He shrugged a little. “Just because you kept bugging me.” He lied.

“I only asked you once…”

“Yeah, but I knew you’d keep pestering me until I told you. That’s what you're like!” He regretted it the second it came out of his mouth. 

Her face contorted. “Well, if you're going to be like that, you can do this by yourself!” She practically smacked him in the chest with the stepladder and flounced off in the direction of the classroom, which wasn’t too far away. “Shinozaki, wait, I’m sorry…”

“Shut up!” She called, not turning to look at him.

He sighed, dropping the stepladder, cringing when it made a loud clattering noise. “God, I’m a moron…” he covered his eyes.

“Um, is everything okay?” 

Yoshiki didn’t even have to pull his large hands away from his face to know who it was speaking to him. “Oh, Suzumoto, it’s you.”

“You're not even looking at me! How did you know it was me?”

“I’d recognise that voice anywhere.” 

“Oh!”

He yanked his hands away and looked down at her. Relief washed over him swiftly when he saw that she was smiling.

“Hey.”

She nodded, her pink hair tie nodding along with her. “Hello.”

“What’s up?”

“I heard you and the Class Rep fighting.”

He winced. “Were we that loud?”

“Erm, yes…”

“Oh, great.”

“What were you arguing about?”

He tended. “Nothing in particular. Heh, you know what Ayumi and I are like.”

“True. It sounded quite heated though…”

Kishinuma shook his head. “It’s nothing, really. Thanks for your concern, though, Suzume.”

The girl smiled at the mention of her nickname. “No problem. Wanna go get something to drink?”

“...that sounds good, actually. All this stuff is so tiring.”

“Yay.”

They headed along to the drinks machine on the floor below. “It’s really weird being alone in the school on the weekend, isn’t it?” Mayu said eventually as they headed down the stairs. “It’s like...a whole different school, or something!”

“I get what you mean. It’s sort of eerie. Like some abandoned old school from a horror story with a dark past.”

Mayu shivered. “I don’t like thinking about it, but yes!”

“Glad we’re on the same wavelength.” The two of them came to the soda machine. Mayu went first. “Can I tell you something?” She asked, glancing at him as she typed in the number for the soda she wanted, which happened to be pocari sweat. Somehow she could type without looking at the keys.

“Sure. What is it?”

“It’s about Morishige.”

“Ah.”

“It’s just...he doesn’t really seem to notice me...you know…?”

“If it’s any consolation, Mayu, he doesn’t notice anyone unless they’re on his phone. I’m sure it’s nothing personal.”

“Oh...really?”

“Absolutely. There could be a literal earthquake happening right now and he wouldn’t notice.”

“I slept through an earthquake once, you know.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

She giggled. “I didn’t even know that there had been an earthquake until my mom told me later.” Suzumoto realised that her drink had fallen out of the machine by now and she picked it up, then stepped back to allow him to purchase his drink. He ordered a calpis.

“Um, Kishinuma...you can pay, right…?”

He looked at her, smiling. “I might live by myself at age 17, but I’m not poor. Well. Not that poor. Besides, my parents are really well-off. They send me a little bit of money sometimes, especially at Christmas. And my birthday.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“It’s alright, I would have thought the same.” He chuckled, retrieving his drink from the machine. “Where should we sit?”

“I don’t mind sitting on the floor.”

“Neither do I.” Mayu smiled.

They sat down on the floor, their backs to the wall. They opened their drinks in unison. “Yoshiki, may I ask you something? It’s...sort of personal…”

“I guess. What is it?”

“Why did your parents disown you?”

He paused, tracing his finger around the rim of his can. “Well, they didn’t specifically say. Probably because I was acting out a lot. Believe it or not, a very rich high-class family don’t particularly like it when their son acts like a delinquent.”

“Why?”

“It’s bad for their image.”

“No, no, I get that. I mean...why would you behave like that?”

“Because being normal is boring. Following the rules is boring. Everything that I’m meant to be doing is most likely boring. I even considered getting myself expelled for a little while.”

“What stopped you?”

“...Ayumi.”

“What about her?”

“You're asking a lot of questions, Suzumoto.”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry. I do that a lot apparently.”

“I was only joking.” He said, poking her arm. “I don’t mind if you ask questions. Most of the time. But I don’t get why people are so interested in my past all of a sudden.”

“Is that what you and the Class Rep were fighting about earlier?”

“Uh...yeah, it was, actually. How did you know?”

“I’m a genius,” she said with a wink. “And plus, the way you phrased it made it quite obvious.”

“Oh.”

She laughed. “Don’t you dare go underestimating me, Yoshiki. I get enough of that as it is.”

He suddenly felt a pang of sadness. “Yeah. I get that a lot too.”

They sat in silence for a moment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to dampen the mood.”

“It’s quite alright. You and I have a lot more in common than you’d think.” 

“Like?” She cocked her head, her ponytail (including her pink hair tie) flopping to the side.

“Unrequited love.”

Her eyes widen. “...who do you...ah...Shino...zaki?”

“You bet.” He solemnly sipped his drink. “I mean, maybe Morishige does like you. It’s possible. But I know that Ayumi doesn’t like me; not in that way, at least.”

“...Mochida, huh?” She looked upset.

“Mhm. Freaking Mochida, of all people.”

“I can’t keep up with you guys. As far as I’m concerned...you like Shinozaki...Shinozaki likes Mochida...Mochida likes Nakashima...Shinohara likes Nakashima…” for some reason, she begins counting on her fingers. “And then...I like Morishige! I’m glad no one else has a crush on him!” She beams.

“Yeah, just because he’s weird.” Yoshiki snorted.

“He’s not…that weird…”

“He sort of is, but he’s still my friend.”

“Hmm. Okay.” She paused. “But I don’t understand. Why did you say ‘Mochida, of all people’...?”

“He’s pretty much my best friend. And she likes him. God, Mayu, I wish…I just wish...she’d notice how much I care about her. Just once. It’s always about him. She never shuts up about how brilliant he is. It’s like I’m not even there. It's like she doesn’t even care.” He paused. “You know, I wouldn’t care if they got together and got married and had kids and lived a wonderful, long life together. So long as she just noticed me...just once...well. Maybe then I’d die happy.” He barely feels her put her hand on his shoulder.

It’s only after a little while that he turns his head to glance at her, and he sees the tears dripping down her face. He sits up a bit straighter. “Suzume? What’s wrong?!”

“It’s just...really sad.” She wiped her eyes. “Sorry.”

“I know it is kind of upsetting, but I haven’t cried about it...within the past few hours.”

She laughs, despite the tears. “I’m being ridiculous, I know. I just feel really bad for you.” 

“Get in line. Though I wish people would stop viewing me like I’m some sort of fictional character in a soap opera.”

“Yeah, well, if you were a fictional character in a soap opera, you’d be my favourite character!” she says and cries harder.

Yoshiki can’t help but laugh as he puts his arm around her. “Suzumoto, it’s nothing to cry about, I promise. Do you have your handkerchief?”

“I left it in the classroom…” she murmurs with a sniffle. 

“You can borrow mine then.” He said softly. He fumbles around in his pocket and recovers his white handkerchief with his initials engraved on it. “Here you go.”

“It’s gonna be all sticky though…”

“Huh?”

“Because of my snot.”

“Oh. I thought you meant something else.”

She pauses, attempting to figure out what he’s saying, before she giggles. “Why would I randomly accuse you of doing something like that? You're gross sometimes, Kishinuma.” Mayu takes it from him and wipes her tears away. “Thank you, though.”

“You're very welcome, Suzume.”

He removes his arm from around her. She offers him his handkerchief again and he shakes his head. “You can keep it for a while, if you like.”

“You sure? It looks expensive. Very...schmancy.”

He laughed. “Schmancy?”

“Yeah! Like, fancy, but for very very rich people!”

Yoshiki grins. “You're so funny, Mayu.”

“...good funny, or bad funny?”

“Good funny.”

“Oh! Thank goodness.”

He looks at his friend and smiles. “I’m serious. You're awesome.”

“...that’s so nice of you...I think I’m going to start crying again…” 

“Oh, please don’t,” he groaned with a laugh. She giggled as well, but the tears had already started. “I’m a massive baby, I know. It’s just because no one is ever this nice to me. I’ve never been called awesome, or funny. I’m just ‘cute’.” She sighed.

“Well, you are. But you're also other things.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me. Why don’t we hang out more, you and I?”

“Because people who don’t know us assume that I’m a thug and you're a loli. And I suppose our friendship is a little unlikely.”

“Guess so. Of course...I never liked the word loli.”

“No, me neither. It’s creepy, and weirdly sexual.” They share a short laugh.

There was a silence. “You're not a thug, though, Kishinuma. You're my friend.”

Yoshiki looked over at her again, and smiled widely. “Thank you. You're my friend too, Suzume. I like you a lot.”

“...oh, no…”

“What?”

“I’m going to cry again.”

He laughed. “You're making yourself do it now!”

“Am not!” She was laughing and crying at the same time. She attempted to sip her drink and almost choked. “My tears are making it salty!”

“Oh, have some of mine.” He laughed. 

“But then yours will be salty too.”

“Maybe then it’ll have some flavour,” he said, handing it to her. She sipped it a couple of times. 

Suzumoto licked her lips afterwards and handed it back to him. “Yours is tastier.”

“Probably less salty.”

“I don’t know how fish cope, being in salt water all the time. Do they get thirsty?”

“Maybe. I’ve never thought about that. Probably not.”

Mayu suddenly jolts as if she had been electrically shocked. “Oh!”

“What is it?”

She turned to look at him, beaming. “I was talking to the Class Rep earlier, before you came in. She said she was thinking of organising a Secret Santa within the friendship group.”

“Oh. That sounds good.”

“Yeah! And I’ve just had an idea. Maybe we could rig it so that you get Ayumi and I get Morishige!”

“It’s not really ‘Secret’ Santa then though, is it?”

“Ah, who cares? It’s so boring when it’s all secretive.”

He looks surprised. “Goodness, Suzumoto. I didn’t know you could be so…”

“Evil? I know, right?! It’s a new thing I’m trying out. I don’t think it suits me very well, though.” She said cheerfully.

He laughed. “Never change, Mayu. Never change.”

***  
A little while later, the two of them went back into the classroom, both incredibly jubilant. “There you guys are!” Satoshi said, turning to face them. “We thought you’d left without telling us or something.”

“Nope!” Mayu smiled. “We just got talking and lost track of time. Sorry!”

“It’s all good.” Seiko grinned. “We’ve done a lot of it now anyway. Though we could still use a little bit of help.”

“Of course.” Yoshiki nodded. 

Ayumi played with her hands, watching him. She grabbed Seiko’s arm and pulled her into a corner subtly. “Woah, Class Rep, why are you manhandling me like this? I’m totally flattered, but I kiiinda like someone else.” The flirtatious girl grinned. 

The class representative looked unimpressed. “We all know who you have a crush on, Shinohara.”

“Yeah. Satoshi.” She said, then burst out laughing.

Ayumi rolled her eyes. “Yeah, very funny. Anyway, I pulled you over here for a reason.”

“I’m assuming it’s not because you want to make out with me?”

“Not in the slightest. It’s just...why were they gone for so long? Both of them? And why do they look so happy?”

Seiko cocked her head to the side, rubbing her chin. “Good sex is supposed to make people happier…”

“W-What?!”

She spluttered with laughter. “I’m kidding, Shinozaki. I mean, really? Kishinuma and Suzumoto? Hooking up? I thought you were more realistic than this. They’re two completely different people, Ayumi.”

“I...I didn’t say that…”

“No, but you implied it.” She insisted, jabbing her not-so-accidentally on the boob. “That’s like saying it.”

“But I didn’t actually-”

“Shinozaki, can you come help me with this?” Yoshiki called from across the room. Ayumi jumped, making Seiko smirk. “Ah, loverboy is calling!” She dashed off back to Naomi before Ayumi could properly react. 

The class rep found herself wondering why she’d asked Seiko for an opinion in the first place instead of someone like Morishige. 

She slowly went over to Yoshiki. “Um, what do you need help with?”

“Hello to you too.” He chuckled. She turned pink. “We said hello earlier. What do you need help with?”

“Charming! Anyway, can you help me put tinsel up? I'm far too short and I need to borrow your stepladder.”

She raised her eyebrows. “So what you're saying is that you want my stepladder, not my help?”

“Well, it would greatly help me out if you let me borrow your stepladder. So no.”

“You're an idiot.”

“Is that a yes, or a no?”

“Yes, fine.” She glanced around. “Where is it…?”

“I think I left it outside the classroom after we had our little, uh, disagreement earlier.”

“Oh.” She felt her face turn red. “Fine. I guess I’ll go and get it for you then, shall I?”

“That'd be nice.”

“God, you’re so…! Ugh. Nevermind.”

She shuffled out of the classroom and retrieved the stepladder, then came back and handed it to him. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” He grinned at her, and she went red. “Um...hey, listen..”

He glanced at her. “Yeah? What’s up, Shinozaki?”

“I’m sorry about earlier. It wasn’t really any of my business. I’m sorry I kept asking.”

“Oh, no, it was my fault. I was really rude to you, for no proper reason. I think it was just because- oh, shit-”

He suddenly tumbled off the stepladder.

Ayumi gasped. “Are you okay?” She asked quickly, bending down beside him.

“Oww...I think so.” He looked at his hands and saw that they were a little scraped up. “I think I have a splinter.” 

“Let me get you some plasters.” She got up and began to head to the infirmary. “I’ll come with you, if you like.” Ayumi stopped when she heard Satoshi say this, and she turned to face him. Yoshiki said nothing, merely watching with bated breath. He noticed Nakashima doing the same out of his peripheral vision.

“The Class Rep knows where the infirmary is, Mochida, you bad boy! If she didn’t know where it was, then she’d be a bad Class Representative, wouldn’t she?” Seiko chastised with a twinkle in her eye. Ayumi glared at her, but she pretended not to notice. “I need to talk to you about something anyway.”

“Oh, okay.” Satoshi looked at Shinozaki. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all,” she said through gritted teeth, and left the room briskly.

Yoshiki watched, stunned. Seiko shuffled over to him. “You owe me, loverboy,” she murmured, clapping her hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah!...um, thanks, Shinohara.”

“Anytime, pal. You’d better not waste this opportunity, though!” She quickly went over to Satoshi. He watched as she began to whisper something to him, and he grinned, nodding along. Yoshiki longed to know what they were talking about. He glanced at his hand. 

“These floorboards have given me too many splinters over the years too,” he heard Naomi say. He glanced up at her and saw her smiling down at him. 

“Oh, hey Nakashima.”

“What’s up?” She sat down beside him. “Heard you and Shinozaki fighting earlier. Everything okay?”

“Eh. Pretty much. It’s nothing to worry about.” He silently hoped that she wouldn’t press on.

“Oh, okay. Well, if you need anything, you know where I am.” She smiled then got up and continued working. He blinked. 

‘I forgot how chilled out Naomi is. That’s something, I guess.’

“They’re plotting something, you know.” Yoshiki looked up and saw Morishige standing by him, staring at his phone.

“Plotting what?”

“I can’t be sure. But they’re up to something. Why else would Shinohara want to talk to Mochida in private? They never talk to each other.”

“Oh...that didn’t occur to me.”

“Mm. Well. Watch out. Our classmates can be incredibly cunning when they wish to be.” He glanced up at Yoshiki from his phone and smiled.

“I didn’t know you could look up from your phone!”

“Neither did I. Wonders never cease.” He hitched his glasses further up his nose and smiled again.

He sat down at his desk and finally put his phone down, instead choosing to talk to Mayu. She looked excited at the sudden attention from him, and Yoshiki beamed.

‘Maybe one of us can be happy.’

He didn’t notice Ayumi walk back in and kneel down beside him until she jabbed his shoulder. “Hey, loser. I’m back with your plasters.”

“Oh! Right, thank you.”

“Give me your hands.”

He hesitated.

“It’s not a trick, Yoshiki. If you want these plasters, I’m really going to need your hands.” She chuckled. 

“Sorry.”

“Why wouldn’t you give me your hands?” Ayumi questioned.

“Vietnam flashbacks.”

“To what? Also, the Vietnam war ended in 1975.” She laughed. “You weren’t even born.”

“I’m kidding, obviously. I dunno what I’m talking about.” He chuckled and put out his hands, his palms facing upwards. She started applying the plasters to his cuts. “Where’s your splinter?”

“Just below my middle finger.”

“Ironic.” She said with a smirk. “Is it this?” She pointed at it, the tip of her finger every so lightly gracing his skin.

“Y-Yes.” 

‘Oh my god, she’s barely touching my hand and I’m getting nervous. Her finger is so soft though...wow, that’s depressing.’

“Do you want me to pull it out, or do you want to do it yourself?”

“You can pull it out...if you want.”

“This conversation sounds very sexual.” Seiko commented with a giggle. Ayumi glared at her. “Thanks for your input, Shinohara.” She turned her head back to his hand, then pulled the splinter out of his hand. He jumped. “Oww! You didn’t even warn me.”

“I don’t hold back.”

“Clearly.”

She put one more plaster over where his splinter had been. “Other hand, please.”

He held out his other hand and she bandaged it up as well. “Better?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Shinozaki.”

“Ah...you're welcome.”

She paused. “We didn’t finish hanging up the banners, did we?”

“No, we didn’t...oh well. It’s not like people won’t know it’s Christmas anyway.”

Ayumi giggled. “True, I guess. Even so. It feels like we didn’t do our job properly.”

“I never do my job properly anyway, it’s not like there's any difference from normality.”

“Hardly surprising.” She stood up and extended out her hand. “Come on.”

Yoshiki allowed her to help him up, smiling. “Thanks,”

“You're welcome.” She said softly, then looked around. “This place looks great.”

“It sure does, huh?”

Everyone had finished decorating classroom 2-9 now, and it certainly looked vibrant, having been adorned with Christmas decorations. “Nice work, everybody!” Ayumi was beaming. “I’m sure Miss Yui will be really pleased with us.”

“I sure hope so,” Seiko said, plopping down into a chair at a desk towards the back of the room. “I’m exhausted!”

“Same here.” Naomi sat down beside her, slightly more gracefully. 

“It was fun though, right?” Satoshi offered, and everyone murmured in agreement.

“Well, it was for those of us who actually did some work.” Mayu giggled, looking at Morishige, who chuckled. “Are you calling me out?”

“Nooo...okay, maybe.”

He reached out and gently pulled on her hair tie. “Rude.”

She laughed. “Morishige!” Suzumoto glanced over at Yoshiki, then looked over at Ayumi. “Class Rep...didn't you say something about a Secret Santa earlier?”

Ayumi claps her hands together. “That’s right, I did! Thanks for the reminder.”

“A Secret Santa, huh?” Satoshi cocked his head to the side. “That sounds like a really good idea.”

“I love it!” Seiko beamed. “Let’s freakin’ do it.”

“Alright then!” Ayumi smiled. “Okay, everyone.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a sheet of paper, as well as a few pencils. “Gosh, you really are prepared for everything, aren’t you?” Morishige chuckled.

“Sure am.” She gave everyone a pencil, and tore the paper up until there were 7 pieces, before she handed them out to everyone. “Okay, everyone write your names down.”

Once everyone had done this, she collected in the strips of paper and muddled them up for quite a few seconds, then set them all down facing downwards on a nearby desk. “Alright then.” She looks around, then looks at Naomi. “Uhh...you pick first, Nakashima.”

“Oh! Thanks.” She picked up one of them and grinned as she read it, then swiftly hid it. Ayumi said nothing for a few seconds, then shook her head, as if to snap herself out of a trance, then looked at Seiko. “You're up.”

They all selected a piece of paper, until there was just one left. Mayu picked it up, read it, then gasped incredibly loudly. Everyone blinked. “You okay, Suzumoto?” Satoshi queried.

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes. Sorry.” She smiled knowingly. 

Yoshiki hadn’t bothered looking at his piece of paper, knowing it would just be a disappointment. 

“Well, we should be heading out.” Naomi said with a smile. “It’s getting kinda late.”

“Agreed. I’m gonna go play some video games,” Seiko said happily, standing up. 

Everyone began to gather up their things. Mayu rushed over to Yoshiki. “Oh my gosh, Yoshiki!”

“What is it?” He glanced at her, picking up his bag. 

“I got Ayumi!” She whisper-shouted.

“Oh. That’s...cool.”

“Who did you get?” Suzumoto asked quickly.

He glanced at his paper. “Uh...Morishige. A disappointment, like I knew it’d be.”

Her eyes widen. “No way.”

“Uh, yeah. Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Forget about that! Do you know what this means?!”

“...no?”

“Put two and two together, silly! We can swap!”

He paused, then gasped. “Oh my god, you're right.”

“I know, right?” She giggled. “Anyway, do you want to swap?” 

“Obviously.”

They glanced around, checking that no one was watching them, then swapped pieces of paper. He grinned the second he saw Ayumi’s ridiculously neat handwriting, then looked back at Mayu, who was also beaming.

“It’s so lucky that you happened to get Morishige. I thought I’d have to do a lot of trading before I got to him, but nope!”

He smiled. “Well, I’m glad. Pleasure doing business with you, Suzume.”

“And also with you! Wow, it’s like church.”

He looked surprised. “Have you ever been to church?”

“Nope, not once! Well, I should be off.” 

“Yeah, me too. Oh, um, Suzume?”

She turned to look at him, still smiling. “Yeah?”

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Why? Are you asking me out?”

“Well, not on a date. But as friends, y-yeah.”

“Oh. Cool! No one ever asks me out as friends. Sure, I’d love to go out! Where?”

“Um...maybe the karaoke bar?”

“That sounds fun! What time?”

“Um, maybe 7?”

“Yay! Sounds great. See you later, Kishinuma!” She said happily and skipped out the room.

He watched her go, beaming. 

“You know that defeats the purpose of Secret Santa, right?” He heard a familiar voice say. He turned to see Seiko watching him, her arms folded.

“Shinohara! I didn’t see you there…”

“I have a knack for blending into the background.”

“Join the club. Anyway, why do you care if me and Suzume cheated?”

“I don’t. Just thought it was interesting.” She grinned. “I’m guessing she had Ayumi, and you had...Morishige? And so you traded?”

“Yeah. You must have listened to our conversation.”

“Only a little bit. Any idiot could guess that, though. Well, sorry to be a bother. I’ll be off.”

“Wait! Uh, Seiko...why did you do that for me before? If Ayumi and Satoshi dated, you would be free to have Nakashima. You could grope her all day long.”

“It sounds bad when you put it like that,” she chuckled sadly. “And don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I calculated the risk in my head? I knew exactly what I was doing, Yoshiki.” Her expression was somewhat pained.

“...then why did-” 

“It’s because you're my friend, Kishinuma. And I just want you to be happy. Plus...I make an excellent wingman.” She winked. “You should make more use of me, you know. I can be very persuasive.”

“I know this isn’t what you're talking about, but that sounded very sexual and I’m a little turned on.” He shivered. 

She snorted. “In your dreams. Maybe if I was straight, thennn I’d consider. But I’m not. And besides, my heart belongs to another.” She said dreamily.

“Say no more. Anyway, thank you so much.”

“Aww, it was nothing. I hope you and Mayu have fun tonight,”

“So do I.” He grinned.


End file.
